A Change of Tradition: 150th Hunger Games
by ImpatientGeek
Summary: The Quarter Quells are just getting worse. Starting with the 125th games, the Quells now have two modifiers. This year, its double tributes, and a little change of weaponry. Rated T cause Hunger Games.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Be forewarned. This is my first fic. Mentality prepare yourself.

Red woke up to the sound of a knock on his door. He rolled out of bed, moaned, and walked to the window to see who it was. He was surprised to see his friend Willow, who rarely came to this part of town, on the porch.

He opened the door and ushered her inside. She plopped into a chair and mumbled, "Happy hunger games."

"You okay Will?" Red asked with a concerned look. She didn't look okay. Apon closer inspection, cuts and bruises, terribly hidden under jacket sleeves and other assorted rags, came into view. "Yep! I'm fine!" She cheerfully replied, then she promptly passed out.

Red sighed and picked her up. He walked to his bed, gently set her down on it, and then went to the kitchen to brew some tea. He thought of the first time he met Willow and chuckled to himself as he drifted off in thought.

()_._._()_._._()

He had just lost his father in accident. A tree felling accident to be precise. Living in District 7, these types of accidents were common. But thankfully, his father took precautions in case this ever happened.

Years before he was born, his father found a stash of several gold bars from the Dark Days deep in the forest. His father had hidden a map with the location marked on it. Red and his mother had found said map and traveled in the forest one night to get one or two of the bars.

During the trip, Red and his mother were forced to hide from a peacekeeper patrol. The PK's spoke of a girl that had stolen a loaf of bread and fled into the forest. When the cost was clear, the continued their trek to the gold.

After 2 hours of walking, they finally found the stash. It was a big, black, metal box with wheels, windows and two doors on the back, along with a triangle logo on the side. They slowly opened the doors, only to find the inside littered with green slips of paper.

His mother looked crestfallen until Red opened a box on the floor, and very nearly shouted for joy. His mother ran over and looked inside and saw 4 bars of solid gold, along with random jewelry and coins, right as a little girl walked in with a loaf of bread.

The girl demanded to know who they were and what they were doing in her house. They answered her questions but the outburst attracted one of the peacekeepers. He was about to call to his patrol, but something stopped him. He looked back at the terrified bunch, decided to let them go, and left.

After the adrenaline wore off, Red looked over at the girl and asked, "Say, what's your name? She looked back at him and said, "Willow." Then she passed out.

()_._._()_._._()

Red was pulled back to reality by the shrill whistle of the kettle. He looked back at Willow and smiled. She was sleeping peacefully, and looked much better. He poured the tea and set a cup on the nightstand beside the bed. After about half an hour, she woke with a yawn.

She looked up at Red and frowned. "How long was I out?" She asked."Bout' an hour, why?" Red said back. Then it hit him. It's reaping day. It's normally not this terrifying, but this was the 150th games. A Quarter Quell. " We need to get ready, duh." Willow said nonchalantly. She seemed confident that we wouldn't get reaped. But who knows.

Red gave her a look, then searched for something they could wear. He found some of his father's old clothes right as his mother and Dais, the peacekeeper that let the three go in the forest, walked in the front door. He turned around and grinned. "Hey guys! How was town?"

"Fine. We picked up some good bread, and some meat for tonight." His mom replied. Red knew his mom was trying to stay positive, but he had a bad feeling about this reaping. Willow popped out of the closet behind him with an old dress of his mother's and asked if she could borrow it. Red's mom looked surprised to find Willow here, but she still said it was alright.

"Thanks!" Willow said as she hopped around with glee. Red laughed. She must really like the dress. It matched her green eyes well. But her black hair was a mess. His mother noticed this and immediately grabbed her and pulled her away with comb in hand. "NOOOoooo" Willow screeched as the door to his mom's room snapped shut.

It was just Red and Dais. Red mumbled something about lunch and tried to walk away but Dais stopped him.

"Listen Red, I know how worried you are about Willow. You're thinking about what would happen if she got reaped. Not a lot of people even know about her," Dais sighed and continued, "You might not believe me, but she's got what it takes to win. Even with the extra tributes. Remember that they don't announce the next modifier until after the reaping."

'The first is double tributes though,' Red thought, 'Greaaat. An extra chance for either of us to be reaped.'

The door to his mom's room opened and Willow oozed out. Her hair was straight, but she sulked in defeat. His mother walked out and announced that it was time to go. "Yay..." Red moaned. Dais laughed and pushed him out the door.

Once they got there, Red and Willow said their goodbyes, and went to sign in. Red shuddered as he wrote his real name down. The attendant pricked his finger and had him smear a little of his blood on the page. Then he walked through the gate to the town square.

The entire place was filled with camera towers, reporters, and nervous kids. Red's mind raced with the possibilities. What if Willow gets picked? ...What if HE was picked? Red was so caught up in thoughts that he missed the opening, which was mostly some capitol lady blabing on about how wonderful it was to be here.

He stopped thinking when someone caught his attention. It was the District 7 mentor. He stood tall, like he would try to train these next tributes to the best of his ability. Red slowly calmed down. He needed to focus. The reaping was starting.

The woman made a show of rummaging through the big glass ball. Then spoke loud and clear. "Amber Smit!" Red looked around to see who it was. It was a young girl. She was probably twelve. Most likely first reaping too. A shame, at least it wasn't-

"I VOLENTEER!" Someone screamed. The crowd parted to reveal Willow, standing defiantly. Red's world shattered around him.

He couldn't believe it. Willow had just done the unthinkable. "Well, that's that then." The capitol woman said brightly, as she reached in for the Male tributes. Red had missed what the other tribute name was. She called out "Kenji Leif."

Nononononono. This CANNOT be happening... That was Red's real name. "Any volunteers?" She quipped. Red knew there weren't any. Who would sacrifice their life for his?

'Willow would, but look where that got us.' he thought. The other tribute was called a kid named Sawlk. The crowd cheered as we marched into the Justice Building. Red tried to take in every detail, because he knew one thing for sure. He would never see this place again.

A/N: I know its short, but I want the train ride to be fairly long so I can expand on Willow's backstory. Thanks for reading though!

Till' next time, ImpatientGeek

(12/11/17)

Next time is here my peoples! I spaced the chapter out for improved readability, and filled a plot hole! (Gasp!)

I was looking at this for nostalgia... Kidding, I couldn't ignore the wall of text that is, sorry, was chapter one. It's readable now. Yay!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: What's up people of the interweb! I'm dropping a new chapter on you, (On time no less!) That is, as promised, longer than chapter one. This is already improving, and hopefully will get much better as I go along. But what are you hanging around here for? Get reading!

Red was split from the other tributes so visitation would be relatively private. As he waited for visitors, Red thought about what the games would be like. He had seen enough of the games on TV the past 10 or so years to know he stood no chance of winning.

He thought about the eventful 75th Hunger Games, and it's brutal clock arena. Red seriously hoped that it was nothing that game maker controlled. Luck was in his favor though, as he would find out later

And so his first visitor arrived almost unnoticed by Red. He looked up and saw his longtime friend Dais standing above him.

Dais looked down at Red with sadness, nevertheless he knew this day would come. That's why he trained him so well. Red blew it off as unnecessary, certainty HE wouldn't get reaped. Dais just chuckled and told him to keep training anyway, almost as if he knew...

Red got up and embraced his longtime mentor and tried not to cry. Dais knew he didn't have long and whispered in Red's ear, "Remember what I've taught you. This is a quell, anything could happen," Red nodded and whispered back, "They laugh as they watch us fall, the lucky don't care at all." Dais remembered that well, a phrase from the sound player found in the armored truck. Another PK came in and gently told Dais his time was up.

Dais nodded sadly, said his goodbyes and exited the room.

Red's next visitor was his mom. Red ran to her and sobbed on her shoulder. His mother followed suit. They cried for a while until the PK walked in and nudged them and informed them their time was up. She pressed something in his hand and left.

Red looked down at his hand, then opened it. A small bundle wrapped in a white cloth. He unwrapped it.

He let out a gasp as he saw the contents. It was his fathers journal. He almost began to read the precious book, but heard footsteps outside the door. Red hardily had time to shove the small book in his pocket before a man he didn't know walked through the door.

"Hello Red," said the man, "You probably don't remember me, but I've known you since you were just a lad."

Red stared at him, the red hair, the sad gray eyes. He looked almost like... "Uncle Hick?" He blurted out suddenly.

"Ah, so you do remember me after all," said Uncle Hick with a sad smile "Your mother wouldn't let me see you. Said I was a bad influence on you or something of the sort."

"Oh," Red smartly replied.

His uncle chuckled and bent down to Red's level, as he was sitting down. He looked into Red's eyes and said, "Look here lad. I have an old family heirloom I want you to have. Make it your token for the games, okay?" Red just stared at his long lost uncle. What was it?

"This," Continued his uncle as he reached into his pocket, "Is a very old, and very special watch. It tells you more than just the time." Red's eyes widened as he looked at the dangling watch in front of him.

He took it and inspected the watch. It was a silver colored wrist watch, with a rather large face and all sorts of buttons and dials. His uncle was right. It showed WAY more than just the time. Altitude, air pressure, date, temperature. Heck, it even had a mini compass. Red wasn't sure they would even allow it as a token. It was actually useful.

His uncle must have noticed and said, "Don't worry about them not letting you have it. They're only worried about potential weapons."

Red almost laughed. This WAS a potential weapon. He could be alerted to changes in weather, sudden temperature drops or rises and keep his sense of direction, all at a glance of his wrist!

"Thank you Uncle Hick." Red whispered as he jumped up and hugged his uncle. "Your very welcome lad. Use it well." His uncle whispered back.

The PK again stepped in and said an all too familiar phrase, "Time is up Sir."

His uncle looked sad as he bid farewell and good luck to the unfortunate Red. As the footsteps of his uncle faded away, Another Peacekeeper grabbed him, and escorted him to the train station.

There he was greeted happily by Willow, and the other two tributes. She was already chummy with the rest of the tributes. No surprise there...

"Don't look so down Red!" Willow said. Red shot her a death glare and she shut up, but that did it for Red. He was MAD. "Really? We're marching off to our deaths, and you're worried about my mood? Seriously?"

Willow looked hurt. After he cooled down Red said. "Look, I'm sorry Will. I'm angry and don't have anyone to vent on. I shouldn't have yelled at you." She walked toward him. Red waited for the slap that was sure to come, but it never did. Just a big hug from Willow.

Red was surprised at first, but returned the hug. The Capitol reporters were snapping pictures throughout the event. Red shot them an angry look over Willow's shoulder.

"Ignore them Red. They're just 'doing their job'." Willow muttered. Red stifled a laugh and tried to keep looking angry. Thankfully, a squad of Peacekeepers pushed the croud out of the station so the 4 tributes could board the train.

Red let out a gasp as he saw the luxurious interior. Filled with plush carpet, high-tech gadgety, huge, fluffy couches and other things he couldn't place.

Willow leapt to the nearest couch and vanished in the cushions. Her head popped out began to study her new territory, right as the 'Capitol Lady' walked into the- Lounge?

She gasped when she saw Willow inside the couch. "H-how uncultured of you, y-you... Woodland Demon!

Willow liked her new nickname, but she didn't show it. She screeched at the Lady and dove back into the couch. Red was about to join her, just to irritate Ms. Capitol, when the mentor for District 7 strolled in.

"What's the commotion Ms. Knack?" He asked. The tributes were roaring with laughter. As he searched for the source of our amusement, Willow peaked out of the couch and looked at the mentor. She frowned and said "Come on Dad, you're ruining the fun!"

"That's right- Wait, DAD?!" Red blurted, "W-why did you never tell me?" Willow smirked and said "I thought you knew." The mentor looked over at me and said, "So your the famous Red, eh?"

Famous? "Umm, I don't know anything about famous Sir..." Red said.

"Call me Fir, okay kid?" He said back, but when Red gave him a confused look he explained, "Why Fir? It's a nickname." Red knew the drill. Nickname to hide the weird name, of course, nothing was worse than Kenji. Ugh.

Fir noticed his understanding, so he didn't bring Red's true name up. Then he turned his attention back to Willow. He glared at her... Before leaping into the opposite couch, and chucking a barrage of pillows in her direction. She ducked under, came up with a screech, and flung them back.

It was all out war. We all took sides, Red and Willow on one team, With Fir and the other tributes, Red later learned that the other female tribute was named Juniper, and Sawlk on the other. Sawlk was pretty much a meat shield for the entire war. Until Ms. Knack, whom was promptly named Knick-Knack, Yelled for silence. "QUIET DOWN!"

And so the Great Couch War came to an end as suddenly as it began. We were directed into the dining car to eat dinner. Red's mood had noticeably lightened after the Skirmish, so he was cracking terrible jokes throughout dinner as usual. (A/N: What does the Girl on Fire, plus the Boy with the Bread make? TOAST! XD)

As they groaned over a particularly bad one, Juniper got up the nerve to ask Fir how he won his games. Fir just laughed and said, "If I told you, it would sound like one of Red's jokes!"

"Heeeeeyyyy!" Red whined as everyone but Knick-Knack laughed. Fir was about to actually tell them, when a capitol attendant rushed in and announced, "The second card is about to be drawn!" The upbeat mood immediately left as the attendant turned on the TV.

The anthem played before revealing President Midas in all his golden glory. He smiled dazzlingly at the camera, before reaching into the card box, and extracting an envelope.

He opened it, pulled out the card, and looked at it with surprise before he said in his rich voice, "To remind us of the children sent into battle with weapons they did not know how to use, firearms will be added to the Cornucopia's arsenal."

They crowd screamed their approval as Midas retreated into the presidential mansion. The anthem played again and the screen went black.

Willow glanced at Red, who was deep in thought, and wondered what he was thinking of.

()._._._[]_._._.()

(FLASHBACK)

"C'mere Red!" Dais shouted, "I want to teach you something!" "Coming Dais!" Red yelled back as he ran towards his friend. They had gone out to grab some coins from the truck so Red could get his mom a birthday present, but Dais had another reason.

"What. Is. It. Dais?" Red panted, Dais chuckled and waited for little Red to recover. After Red caught his breath, Dais asked "You asked about my pistol yesterday, right?" Red nodded, not believing his luck. " Well, here you go, I'm going to show you how to use it."

Red stared at the weapon in awe. "C-can I hold it?" He asked nervously. Dais laughed again and said, "Sure! Just careful where you point it." Red gingerly took the gun like it would explode if he did anything wrong.

Dais moved Red's hands into the right grip and told him to point it at a squirrel in the distance. But Red turned his head and asked, "But won't it make a boom? That would bring bad people here and take me to jail!"

Dais was rather proud of Red. He was much smarter than other the other kids at school. He was almost growing up too fast.

"You're absolutely right Red, but this gun is special. It can use the sun to make lasers, and they don't make a lot of noise!"

"Wow!" Red exclaimed, and continued to aim the pistol.

"Okay Red, when you're ready to-" HEEEANNNN! (A/N: If you've ever played Fallout, the laser sounds kind of like that, if not, it's like a deep hum)

The laser flew out of the gun and missed the squirrel by close to two inches. Much better than Dais expected to see him preform.

He had a lot of potential, and Dias wasn't going to let it go to waste.

()._._.[]._._.()

Red looked around. Everyone was gone. He got up and walked to the lounge, which was hard to do in the dark. He saw Juniper sitting on the couch illuminated by the light of the TV. She looked up and squinted at him. Then said "I'm watching the Reapings, care to join me? Red nodded and was about to plop down when he heard a distant screech. Fir came barreling down the hall, howling "You can't make meeee!" Willow wasn't far behind but she stopped when she saw Red.

"Hey. You okay?" She asked. "Yeah Willow," he replied with a smile "Never been better."

He did have a chance to win after all.

A/N: Wow, intense. This was SUPPOSED to be a background chapter, but ended up being 74% Train ride. Oops. Well, the chapters will rotate between Red and Willow, for you Willow fans. (Cough, Cough, FAN... Looking at you Star... 3 ) Anyhoo, thanks for reading, remember to drop a reveiw. Helpful Criticism is welcomed, Flames are ignored.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: My dearest readers, I... Feel... Terrible for not posting last Thursday.

(My decided update day, so you guys will catch the next chapter every Thursday evening. Hopefully.)

I had a lot going on and, at the end of the day, I didn't feel like writing anything. Which is why I'm writing this during a 18 hour car trip. -_-

But enough about me, time for my other points. This chapter is in Willow's POV for a change. I normally hate POV changes but they were needed.

One big reason for this is that this story was originally going to be narrated by her in first person. I couldn't just leave her thoughts for Red to guess!

And a special character Willow meets during training also needed attention.

I had an encouraging review from Girl on Fire 131! Many thanks! Believe it or not, this review actually gave me inspiration for this chapter! This chapter will (Very lightly) touch on Red and Willow's relationship.

Alright, I'll let you go read it now.

()_._._[]_._._()

While the 'Big Announcement' was going, Red looked deep in thought, so Willow quickly finished her dinner, made a snarky comment about Midas, and exited the dining car.

She got to her room and checked the closet for something to wear in the morning. She found some nice looking jeans, the softest shirt EVER, some kind of light hunting jacket and... some comfy boots! Score!

Fir walked in as Willow pulled the boots on and nodded in approval. "So," Fir said, "What do you think of the Quell?" Willow thought carefully about how to respond, but finally replied, "Meh."

Willow was really terrified of it. Instead of using her epic ninja skills to stab everyone in the back, she would flail about trying not to get shot by someone with better aim. 'Like Red!' She thought, but quickly pushed the thought away, why would he be shooting at her? Even if he was clueless about her feelings for him, she was still his best friend.

Fir just laughed. Willow gave him the evilest look she could muster, which Red swore would make a full grown man crap his pants. Fir's eyes widened and he looked around for a quick escape route.

But it was to no avail, Willow pulled a bow tie out of thin air, told him she was going to make him put it on with his clothes tomorrow, gave a war screech, and leapt after him.

The chase led them to the living room, where, lo and behold, Red was about to sit down with Juniper. 'How dare she!' Willow thought, and knew she had to take action. Fir could wait.

She stopped and said "Hey. You okay?" Red smiled and said, "Yeah Willow, never better." He looked like he meant it too. He didn't sound depressed, or upset, or even nervous. He sounded... Convinced. Like he seriously believed that he would be okay. Just one of many things she loved about him.

"Alright then. Wanna help me get Dad?" She asked, in the hopes of getting him away from Juniper. "Nah, I wanna see how stupid I look on TV."

Willow forced a snort and ran after Fir. She swore if Juniper touched him, she would be the first to go in the arena. She found Fir hiding behind a couch near the engine thinking he was safe. " NOOOOO!" He howled, and ran though the door... That led outside...

Willow stared for a few seconds, then called out to the driver. "YOU MIGHT WANT TO STOP THE TRAIN!"

()_._._[]_._._()

After the train stopped they went to look for what remained of Fir. Suprisingly, they found him safely stuck headfirst in a huge pile of cow poo. Knick-Knack fussed at the crap covered mentor, as she dragged him back to the train, to the amusement of the 4 tributes. It was the subject of jokes for years afterwards.

While Fir was scrubbing himself down, Knick-Knack wailed about being off schedule. Which they tuned out. No one cared that much.

After going to bed, Willow had a few cow related nightmares. One was especially creepy, because Fir led the evil cow army.

She woke up an hour before arrival only to be rushed to shower and get dressed. It pained Willow to know that the chariot ride was next, and that she was probably a tree. Ugh.

When she got there, she found her prep team to be rather fun. Willow liked them, just not what they did to her. They made her shave! Shave! Afterwards, Red claimed to hear her screeching in fury from the chariot room. They had spunk, but not as much as her.

Her stylist had, well, style. Instead of a tree, which was over used, she gave Willow some kind of dryad outfit. Willow was sceptical at first, but accepted it afterwards. It was kinda cute.

It was a green dress that looked like leaves, with an ivy belt, and little acorns stitched onto the hems. She missed her boots already... The sandals were terrible.

When she got to the chariot room, Red was a lumberjack. He was wearing a red flannel shirt and jeans. And carried a huge foam axe. He looked traumatized.

Before Willow could quip about how big his axe was, they were told to board the chariot. Once on board, Red whispered in her ear, "Okay, I have an idea..."

()_._._[]_._._()

"And look at that folks! It appears 2 of the District 7 tributes are chopping the other Tributes dressed as trees down! Ha! That's golden! Am I right Richmond?"

"That's Right Hereford! I love it!"

Ritchmond and Hereford laughed together before Richmond said, "This could go down in history folks!"

()_._._[]_._._()

President Midas addressed the tributes from his balcony and with his trademarked smile said "Happy Hunger games tributes! May the odds be-"

"WOOOOOO! YEEEEEAAAAAHHH!" Screeched Willow and Red

Midas looked surprised, but continued, "-Um, EVER in your favor!"

The chariots then spun around and went back the way they came.

All the other tributes looked their way and tried not to laugh. Especially a big guy from... 4? He stared at Willow... Kinda creepy...

When they got back to the training tower, Willow and Red found a still laughing Fir and Knick-Knack sprawled out on the floor of the main room. Fir saw them first and burst into a fresh bout of laughter. He feebly pointed at the TV replay. They looked up and started laughing too.

They looked ridiculous chopping up Sawlk and Juniper, who were screaming with mock terror. The look on Willow's when she got her turn wad priceless.

After they calmed down, they all went to bed, and dreamed of hitting their enemies with big, foam axes.

Training was fun though. Willow found out big guy from 4 was named Orca who had decided to be her body guard. He had black hair and sea green eyes. He was 6'4" and ripped as hell. No clue as to why he wasn't with the other careers though, he could easily fit with them.

Willow decided it was her natural charm.

Willow found that she was good with long range rifles, but trash with pistols and the like. She got her rifle target from downrange and showed it to her friends.

Orca's eyes widened when he saw the tight 1 1/2 inch grouping in the head. "Impressive. Way better than I could do anyway." He said in his deep voice. Red snorted and went over to the range, picked up a rife and aimed...

Three consecutive shots rang out and he put the gun down. He grabbed his target and displayed it. One hole.

"HA! Nice try Red! You missed two of them!" Willow chuckled, before Orca whispered in her ear, "He didn't miss Willow, All three bullets went in the same hole..."

Willow looked from Orca to Red very slowly. Then screeched and ran off to practice.

She drilled reloading first, before Orca reminded her that she would want to gain some basic survival skills. Which she did with Orca's help for nearly the rest of that day, but Orca got pulled aside by the careers.

Willow wondered what it was about as she joined her... Hmm what to call them. Ah that's it. Her alliance.

()_._._[]_._._()

"Come on Orca, join us!" Said Sparky, a tribute from 5.

Yeah, big boy!" Said Rhine, the girl from 1

"No."

"Why?"

"I have an alliance already"

"Who?"

Orca pointed behind him to his friends. Salwk was picking his nose, Juniper was flirting with Red, Red was ignoring Juniper, and Willow waved at Orca, who smiled and waved back.

"You're kidding."

"Nope, everyone but the nose picker."

"..."

"Are we done?"

"The only promising one over there is the red haired kid."

"Bye."

()_._._[]_._._()

Orca walked back over and joined Willow and gang. "What was that about Orca?" Asked Juniper. "Nothing, just some bothersome career group." He said. "Oh, okay."

A bell rang that signaled the end of training. Willow screeched and rushed the door. She was HUNGRY! She remembered Orca last minute and turned around to say goodbye. Then sprinted away screeching "DINNER!" All the way.

Orca chuckled as he watched his charge dash away for food. He really hoped he could get her though the games. She could do it if she put her mind to it. But that begged the question-

Who couldn't?

/XvXvX\

A/N: Poor Friend zoned Willow. I almost feel bad about it... Almost...

Thanks for reading guys! I hope you had as much fun readind this chapter as I had writing it! Please favorite and follow, and remember to drop a review!

I wanted to address an easter egg I slapped into chapter 2. The lyric Red whispers to Dais is from an amazing band called Muse. I can hear this band in my head as I write this fic, like a movie soundtrack. But in my brain. XD

So yeah, highly recommended. More easter eggs to come. And tell me if you want more bad jokes out of Red!

"Yeah! Have you heard the one about-" (Slaps hand over mouth) Hush it Red, save it for later.

"But-"

No.

"Aww!'

Shoo!

"Okay..."

¡Adiós! -Geek


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: And we're back with a new chapter. I decided to take this chance to finish up my Beta Reader Reqs, so if you like my writing style, hit me up (In other words, PM me). I'll do one or at most two stories at a time because, after all, I have this to do.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, new chap. This will be Red's Training session, up to before the interviews. Its a short chapter, but I need to put more effort into the interviews. Only Red, Willow, Juniper and Orca will have written interviews.

If you want specific tributes written either now, or after more of the games, say something and I'll make it a separate fic.

Okay go read it now.

()_._._()_._._()

Red had to admit that he was impressed. The training hall was more massive than he imagined. The stations were filled with useful knowledge, like knot work, what wild plants you could safely eat, and... diving? Weird.

He worked his way through all the survival stuff and finally got to some simple firearm drills. Red had this stuff down pat, but he made it look like he was consenting hard to do it correctly. He didn't want any sneaky tributes spying on him. He turned to see Willow smirking at him. "What?" He asked, wondering why she was looking at him like that.

"If you're trying to hide your abilities, you shouldn't have shown off to me." She said brightly.

Reds eyes widened as he realized his mistake. And after all he'd done to hide his skills.

"Its okay Red," Willow said, "I honestly don't think anyone was paying attention."

Red gave her a skeptical look. They were in a room of people, all looking to stab- sorry, shoot, them in the back.

"Seriously, everyone was occupied. The only ones watching were in our alliance already." She retorted.

"Fine." Red finally relented.

Orca walked up and whispered in Willow's ear. She gave a screech and rushed a Capitol Attendant, who was coming out of a door with a cart full of food.

The attentant looked terrified and ran from the cart as Willow buried herself in food. She popped out with... Shrimp in her mouth? Red saw the tails.

She mumbled something to Orca. He cracked up and looked at Red. He motioned for him to come over.

"She said-" He started laughing again, "Said... You need to try...These Nuts." He burst into laughter as Red stared. He didn't get it.

"Wha...?"

He calmed down enough to say, "Never mind Red."

Confused as he was, Red decided to go do something else.

()_._._()_._._()

After wandering around aimlessly, he discovered the Edible Wild Food Station. Seeing as he was mildly interested, and also mildly hungry, (Willow kind of infected all the food.) He decided to check it out.

There he found out that pine needles were used to make tea. He knew you could eat them, he lived in a forest after all, but tea? The more you know he guessed.

"You can eat dandelions?" He asked in relative amazement.

"That's right, they also make-" The Capitol lady was interrupted by Red.

"Lemme guess, good tea?"

She thought for a moment before answering.

"I hadn't thought of that. But no. I was going to say you can make them taste like asparagus."

"Like what?"

"You've never had... Asparagus?"

"Nope."

She rummaged around a box set behind her and pulled out a large green stick, with a poof on the tip.

"Here, it's cooked, but you can eat it right out of the ground if you find it out in the arena."

Red accepted the veggie, and took a careful bite. He contemplated the taste for a moment.

"This... Isn't half bad. Tastes kind of buttery."

The Lady's eyes lit up. She rummaged around again and pulled out a dandelion, and stuck it in some boiling water. Kept far away from other tributes of course.

"Keep looking around if you want. I'll call when it's done."

"Oh, okay." Red said, wondering if it really did taste like the asparagus.

()_._._()_._._()

As Red waited he found a smallish tribute was interested in the station, but was intimated by his presence.

"Hey," Red called out to the poor terrified kid, "I can move over and we can both use this. Okay?"

His eyes widened. Had anyone ever been nice to this kid? He calmed down enough to consider this proposition.

"I-If it's really okay..." He managed to stutter out.

Red smiled back, "Really. What's your name?"

"Watt."

Red made a face. "I just asked your name man."

Watt laughed for the first time in a long time. "No! That's my name! Watt!"

That earned him an overdramatic face palm from Red. "Oooohhhhh!"

They both laughed it off, but this conversation didn't go unnoticed. Willow came screeching in much like a leather clad lighting bolt and picked up poor Watt. He had a terrified look in his eye again, until Red gave him a silent go-with-it-or-I'll-get-murdered look.

Willow mumbled something about skinny bones, and adoption. Watt's eyes widened at that, and he struggled to escape. But it was to late, she dragged him off to stuff him with food.

Red almost felt bad for him. Almost. His dandelion was done cooking, and it did taste like asparagus.

()_._._()_._._()

Special training session. Yay. Even though he was nervous, Red knew he could still shoot really well. Dais had trained him for such situations much more stressful than this.

One time, Dais had lights flashing, the sound player, an air horn and Willow screaming all at once, and told him to shoot. He did. Perfectly.

Well, technically. He shot the flashing light, then the target. Dais said he expected no less. To this day, Red didn't know if that was part of the drill or not.

He strolled in and glanced at the Gamemakers. They had a shocked look on their face. What the heck did Willow do?

Red shook it off. He had shooting to do. He started with handguns.

He stared down the sights. The pistol was the same model as Dais's, so he decided to do a little trick his old mentor showed him. Just for fun. It wasn't practical.

He slung the gun under his leg and fired. That got him a gasp from the Gamemakers. He wondered why, there was no way that even hit the targe-

"What the-" Red whispered. He his his surprise and prayed the GM's didn't notice.

There in the center of the target, was Red's bullet hole

The GM's erupted into applause.

"BRAVO!"

"WHAT A SHOT!"

"THAT WAS BRILLIANT!"

"BEST THING I'VE SEEN ALL DAY!"

They were hushed by the Head Gamemaker, who motioned for Red to continue.

Red decided that was enough with pistols, and walked to the automatic weapon section. He selected some sort of submachine gun. He squeezed off three short bursts and waited for his results.

Twelve tightly grouped shots, about the size of a coin.

Another round of applause, and more shushing.

He then went to the long range weapons. And selected a human shaped target at 250yd. Red knew that he had to compensate for the bullet drop. He aimed slightly above the target's head, and fired.

'Head Shot!' The range computer barked, startling Red slightly.

The GM's 'Ooh'd' and 'Ahh'd', then Red was excused.

()_._._()_._._()

Red and Willow eagerly awaited their scores. The careers got a high score as was the norm. But Orca got an 11. 11! Willow cheered loudly at that. The only other odd score was a 10 from a dude from 5. Go figure.

Then it was time for the tributes from 7. Sawlk was first. He got an astonishing score of:

"One?! HAH!" Willow screeched, "I'm not even sure if I've ever even SEEN a one! You're living history!"

Red couldn't help but laugh along. A one was pitiful.

That's when Red's score showed up. A Twelve.

Everyone stared at the screen, then at Red.

A/N: Sorry for the late chap. My life is crazy right now. I really either don't feel like writing, or don't have time. Next update will be for Changed, (if I manage to update at all.) Which I got a great response to by the way. Thanks guys!

¡Adiós! _-Geek_


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